Scottish Rugby insist Murrayfield’s doors are open to become the new home of Scottish football.

Chief operating officer Dominic McKay launched a weekend charm offensive in rugby’s bid to lure the SFA to the capital by inviting the media to a behind the scenes experience ahead of their Autumn Test against Samoa.

Murrayfield’s 67,000-capacity, superior travel links and modern stadium facilities are being used to try to tempt football’s biggest games to Edinburgh as the SFA’s lease for the Glasgow ground expires in 2020 after hosting part of the Euro Finals.

And McKay is adamant Scottish Rugby has a ready-made stadium to host both sports – including Cup Finals and Scotland games – with increased spectator benefits as well as increased revenue streams to be gained.

He said: “We’ve shared a couple of bits of information with our friends at the SFA and ultimately what we want to do is give them an option and say we’d love to host football games here, whether that’s a couple of games or a number of games that’s really up to the SFA.

“We’re open-minded about what the future might be but it’s a matter for the SFA to decide what’s in their best interests.

“What we’ve shown here is that even for the small games, with our marketing muscle what we can do is assist to perhaps grow that crowd a little bit further and that’s a great thing. The more we can work in partnership with our friends at the SFA, the more money that’s then generated and gets reinvested back into grassroots sports.

“No doubt with football coming here, the largest stadium in Scotland, selling it out you’re going to drive a lot of value that can go back into football clubs all across the length and breadth of Scotland.

Football has brought travelling crowds to Murrayfield this season (Image: SNS)

“That’s something we’re proud about from rugby but if we can offer that for football that’s fantastic for sport in this country.

“We believe we’ve got a very special stadium. We’ve hosted European Cup Finals here, we’ve hosted outstanding rugby matches including the European Cup Final just a few weeks ago but we’ve hosted football games here regularly.

“So we know we can do it, we know we can put on a great show. The city is an outstanding backdrop, the transport is pretty good.

“So we’re always in the market for major events and the conversation with the guys at the SFA has lent us to put our best foot forward but it’s a matter for them. So I’m not going to second guess.”

The prospect of Celtic and Rangers fans flooding into the capital could pose logistical issues but McKay is adamant Scottish Rugby would relish the opportunity they can enhance the Old Firm experience.

(Image: PA)

He said: “It would create a very special atmosphere and an atmosphere, which, in a neutral city could be quite interesting, quite positive.

“I guess from our point of view what we wanted to do is give the SFA an opportunity to think about some options.

“You’ll sense perhaps from some of the comments recently from the SFA they’re pleased with some of the information we’ve shared with them and our keenness.

“Perhaps in the past the SFA and Scottish Rugby haven’t been as close as they are just now and that’s something we’re very pleased about we’ve got a quality relationship.

“We had the largest travelling Rangers support since Manchester just a couple of weeks ago when Hearts played, there was 15,000 Rangers supporters in here.

“We’ve got an outstanding relationship with Edinburgh City Council, with the police in Scotland but, of course, we’d learn from the experience at Hampden, we’d learn from the experience at Celtic Park or Ibrox and make sure we put on the world class event we always put on.

“We’ve certainly spent a lot of time as part of our big preparation highlighting how we would manage those big football internationals but also those big football cup finals that might or might not come out of Hampden.

“We would absolutely work hand in glove with our friends at the SFA and various stakeholders.

“It’s an outstanding stadium that lends itself in many respects to managing large volumes of crowds that require to be segregated.

“But we would leave no stone unturned to ensure the spectators from both sides have a great experience.”